


From The Balcony

by SabineElectricHeart (TheLifeAndLiesOfFerns)



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Ballroom Dancing, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Teacher-Student Relationship, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:33:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29450097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLifeAndLiesOfFerns/pseuds/SabineElectricHeart
Summary: Byleth does not care for balls. Sylvain will not stand for that.
Relationships: Sylvain Jose Gautier/My Unit | Byleth
Kudos: 14





	From The Balcony

It was the night of the ball. A cold and dry mountainous wind blew constantly through the stone halls of the academy, as it often did on winters. The Ethereal Moon was absent from the skies, probably feeling upstaged by the bright lights in every corner of the monastery, celebrating the ever encroachment of the Millennium Festival.

Alas, it was still 1180, and the people of Garreg Mach were in an unusually celebratory mood. After a trying year, the festival served to finally release some tension and enjoy life.

Amongst the joy of the students, Byleth observed the proceedings from a balcony overlooking the highly decorated entrance hall. She was not the one for fancy balls and dancing, as she looked downright stupid trying to do the quadrille, but she was entrusted with chaperoning duties. It stands to logic that such a position would be conductive to observation.

As she nursed a goblet of wine and ensured order and decorum from the students, quiet footsteps climbed up the balcony two at a time, hoping to steal the woman away, if only for a single moment.

Without looking back, Byleth greeted him. “Hello, Sylvain. How are you faring tonight?”

“You’re too good.” The redhead comments with a chuckle. “I came to look for my favourite person in the monastery.”

“Indeed, and I hope this is the reason why I am your favourite person.” She twirled the purple liquid, not really desiring to drink it.

“It is one of many reasons.” Byleth watched as Sylvain extended his hand. “Well Professor, can I have this dance?”

When she looked up at him, he had his signature flirtatious easy smile with just a hint of something more. She bit her lower lip, looking around the ballroom for any sign of trouble downstairs.

She let out a soft sigh and gave Sylvain a sheepish look. “Sylvain, I cannot…“

“You can’t dance, I know, you’ve told me.” As he gently cut her off, her blue eyes grew wide. “Just trust me, would you?”

She did not trust him. She wanted to, but she did not. Byleth wanted to trust him with her life and they have not known each other that long, but so far, he has presented as a spoiled, untrustworthy teen, even if something else did shine through the cracks. The professor wonders silently who actually is Sylvain, and whether she would appreciate the response.

It made no sense, but she was not much concerned with that. Debates and morality could wait until the sun rises, and so she took his hand and he led her by the bannister, where they could hear the music and the light hit her eyes just right so they appear almost green, before pulling her close and placing a hand on her hip while holding the other.

They began to do a slow box step, Byleth looking down at her feet every once in a while. Sylvain could see the uncertainty in her face, and ever since he has known her, even if it has not been that long, he has never seen her confidence fall like this.

He moved the hand that was engulfing hers to her chin, lifting it so her eyes were on him. “By, look at me. I got you, you won’t fall on your ass. There’s no one watching, just relax.”

She let out a soft chuckle and shook her head. “I am just… I cannot believe you remembered that I said I could not dance…”

His wide grin immediately turned into a frown. “We don’t have to…”

“No, no, I want to dance.” She then brought the hand that was no longer accompanied by Sylvain’s over his other shoulder, wrapping both arms around his neck as she got even closer. “I brought up the fact that I could not dance in passing, once, many Moons ago, and you remembered.”

Hugging her towards him as close as he could, the corner of his mouth lifted as he gave an indifferent shrug. “You’re just one of the few people that I care enough about to remember stuff like that.”

“What happened to the Sylvain that seduces village girls by the bucket and then dashes off to the next big thing?” She lifted a challenging brow before he let out a hearty laugh.

He chuckles lightly, even as his heart weights on him. “The thing is, Byleth, you are worth so much more than any woman I seduced in the past.”

The reason for so much of her value, her blood, her Crest, was left for her to wonder how much it weights on his judgement. Were they forever shackled to the will of the Goddess? Or would he finally be free of it all and love and live honestly?

Seeing this side of Sylvain was definitely an experience, but it was something Byleth realized she enjoyed quite a bit. When she first met Sylvain, the philandering heir to the Gautier family, she never would have thought his hard-shell exterior would crumble down in such a manner. She also never thought she would feel so appreciated with him, but she did.

This is love. All the times she had the feelings of butterflies in her stomach, wanting to trust him and feeling as if she fit on with him so early on and without any rational reason, and the small moments like these, it was love.

They continued to sway, soaking up the intimate moment as Byleth’s thoughts were running wild. She has never felt this type of love for anyone before, this was something new for her. It was so new that she was not sure she even wanted to tell him. She could not tell him right now, she could not giving him what he clearly wanted so early, lest he loses interest.

Pushing down any other thoughts on that subject, her adoring smile turned into a bewitching smirk. “So, if those women are in the past, does that mean you are completely retired from seducing?”

His eyes gleamed with amusement. “You know, you don’t need to wait until we’re in mortal peril to have an excuse to try and jump me.”

“You are saying there is such a time when we are not in mortal peril?” She quipped back.

“Yes, so feel free to jump me anytime.” He winked before bringing his lips down her ear. “I’m ready and willing.”

She felt a shiver go down her spin as he moved his mouth away from her ear. When their faces were mere inches apart, she could see all the care that he held for her, even behind that damn grin that was usually occupying his face.

Byleth took the initiative and slightly went up on her toes, closing the distance between her and Sylvain with their lips. The kiss was slow at first, but turned into something more passionate. Byleth laced her fingers through his hair while Sylvain continued to flush her body against his, kissing harder than before.

When the kiss had finally broken, Sylvain looked at her with a far more tender expression than before. “You know Professor, I won’t lie. Meeting someone like you is like… Like trying to catch lightning in a bottle.”

A rosy blush appeared on her cheeks and before she could respond, the music had come to a stop, allowing a hush to go over the ballroom. They looked down to the party and could see Manuela drunkenly making a scene on the dance floor, and Byleth remembered for what reason she was originally there.

She ought to do something before Seteth intervened and made it much worse for the entire faculty and student body, even if she really wanted to cut down on her responsibilities and let Manuela draw her own luck when it came to their boss.

Letting her grasp on Sylvain go, she gave him a smile. “Thank you for asking me to dance. You are probably the only one who could ever get me to let myself go in such unsightly manner.”

The redhead beamed, as if she had told him he was to be the next Emperor of Fódlan. “Well, I’ll be looking forward to the next time to whisk you away.”

They both set off downstairs, back to their usual grinding life at the monastery, getting ready for whatever on the Goddess’ wicked imagination was about to happen next.


End file.
